Valiant Comics May 2016 Solicitations

Valiant launches their event book 4001 A.D. this month as well as the X-O Manowar one-shot tie-in. Both Wrath of the Eternal Warrior and Rai begin new story arcs as X-O Manowar gets his first annual of the year. This month also sees a new Deluxe Hardcore Edition of Rai. What will you be picking up from Valiant this May?

4001 A.D. #1 (of 4)

Cover A by Clayton Crain

Cover B by Tula Lotay

Cover C by Ryan Bodenheim

CGC Replica Variant by Clayton Henry

Character Design Variant by Clayton Crain

Interlocking Mega-Cover Variant by Ryan Lee

Interlocking Artist Variant by Ryan Sook

Black and White Variant Cover by Ryan Sook

In the tradition of BOOK OF DEATH, ARMOR HUNTERS, and HARBINGER WARS, Valiant’s most ambitious crossover event yet starts here! At the dawn of the 41st century, the future of Earth will be decided in the stars. This May…the rebellion begins in 4001 A.D.!

One hundred years from today, Father – the benevolent artificial intelligence that governs the island nation of Japan – will gain sentience. To defend its borders, Father will take drastic action by launching Japan into space…where its people will thrive in isolation, away from the overpopulated and resource-deprived planet below. Over the centuries, as New Japan orbits our increasingly unstable world, it will become a model society – one built on peace, prosperity… and Father’s control.

A thousand years from today, Father will create the first Rai, founding a lineage of technologically enhanced heroes engineered to defend New Japan and sworn to protect it from all enemies. For hundreds of years into the future, the Rai will single-handedly enforce New Japan’s justice well…and serve Father without question.
Now, at the dawn of 4001 A.D., the latest Rai is about to inherit the dark truth behind the origin of his kind…and discover the sinister secret at the heart of Father’s existence. For New Japan to live, Earth must die…and as Rai challenges his former master for the first time in more than a millennium, the lone guardian of New Japan will be cast out of his own Father’s kingdom…

Exiled from the only realm he’s ever known, Rai now walks the ravaged world of 4001 A.D. in search of forgotten heroes like himself… on a mission to collect the last surviving legends of a broken planet…and to forge a rebellion with the power to bring the most advanced civilization in history crashing back down to Earth.

As 4001 A.D. teeters on the brink, discover the intertwined origins of New Japan’s very first Rai and his creator, Father – the despotic artificial intelligence that would one day threaten us all. And as the truth behind these long-lost beginnings resurfaces, so too will the questions that have eluded mankind for nearly two millennia. How did New Japan come to orbit Earth? Who created Father? And what happened to the nine previous Rai that once swore allegiance to his empire?

The architect behind the summer’s most anticipated crossover event, Matt Kindt (DIVINITY II), joins forces with all-star artist CAFU (IMPERIUM) to uncover the never-before-told story of New Japan’s rise to power…and reveals just how the Valiant Universe of today became the 4001 A.D. of tomorrow!

4001 A.D.: X-O MANOWAR #1

ROCKETING OUT OF THE PAGES OF 4001 A.D…the present and future of Valiant’s #1 hero come together for an essential standalone chapter at the heart of the summer’s blockbuster comics event!

How did the rise of Earth’s most powerful hero lead to humanity’s ultimate destruction? Just what was the War of the X-O Manowars…and how did its catastrophic fallout bring ruination and despair to a besieged planet? And why is the sacred extraterrestrial armor called Shanhara the one weapon Father fears more than any other?

The answers to the pivotal questions behind Valiant’s planet-shaking summer event arrive here as New York Times best-selling writer Robert Venditti (BOOK OF DEATH) and acclaimed artist Clayton Henry (IVAR, TIMEWALKER) blast two thousand years into the future of the Valiant Universe to reveal the never-before-told history of New Japan’s dominion over Earth…and the doomed role that the X-O Manowar armor was forever fated to play in the coming war for liberation!

WRATH OF THE ETERNAL WARRIOR #7

Cover A by Raul Allen

Cover B by Pere Perez

Cover C by Juan Jose Ryp

Character Design Variant by Khari Evans

Variant Cover by Dave Bullock

ALL-NEW ARC! ALL-NEW JUMPING-ON POINT! “LABYRINTH” starts now!

Across six millennia, Gilad Anni-Padda – an immortal warrior sworn to forever serve the Earth – has felled zealots and madmen, emperors and tyrants in the course of his duty. But nothing he’s faced yet can prepare him to run the “LABYRINTH” – a miles-long maze of horrors specifically designed to undermine his every strength, enhance his every weakness…and to send him screaming into the darkness of death at every turn. But what kind of brilliant but twisted psyche could have possibly conceived such a monument to terror…and for how many centuries have they plotted to break the mind and body of history’s most formidable soldier?

The answer lies at the heart of the “LABYRINTH” itself…and as Gilad endures a gauntlet of cutting-edge technology and sharpened steel, he’ll soon discover why the merciless figure known only as THE DYING ONE has singled the Eternal Warrior out for the ultimate deathtrap.

He will run. He will suffer. And when his ordeal is ended, the Eternal Warrior’s place in the Valiant Universe will be forever altered as New York Times best-selling writer Robert Venditti (BOOK OF DEATH) and visionary artist Raúl Allén (Hawkeye) unleash an all-new epic for Valiant’s immortal master of war!

DIVINITY II #2 (of 4)

Cover A by Jelena Kevic-Djurdjevic

Cover B by Tom Muller

Variant Cover by Trevor Hairsine

Variant Cover by Tula Lotay

Variant Cover by Adam Gorham

Russia reigns supreme!

Just a month after the arrival of long-lost cosmonaut Mishka, the former Soviet Union has made an impossible push to become the world’s preeminent superpower. But how? Ninjak has a theory, but it will require going undercover across enemy lines…and maybe some help from Mishka’s old comrade, Abram Adams – the god-like being known as Divinity! But can the motives of a deity among men ever truly be known…and will the return of Divinity’s former teammate rekindle his old allegiances?

X-O MANOWAR ANNUAL 2016 #1

Join the adventures of Valiant’s flagship hero here with 64-pages of armor-busting action on the front lines of the Valiant Universe in X-O Manowar’s first-ever annual!

2016 is primed and ready to be X-O Manowar’s most pivotal year yet! But before Aric of Dacia can confront the biggest threat Earth has ever faced, he must first reflect on the past…and the outcome of a bloodstained battle on the frontier of the Roman Empire that continues to be felt to this day! Then: X-O Manowar’s sworn enemy, Commander Trill, readies for the war that is to come…by undergoing a life-threatening trial-by-fire that will test every ounce of his intellect and fury. Plus: Col. Jamie Capshaw must singlehandedly defend G.A.T.E from a menace nobody expected… and the Armorines begin an all-new mission at the heart of X-O Manowar’s world!

The life and times of the unstoppable X-O Manowar loom large as series mastermind Robert Venditti leads an all-star cast of Valiant’s greatest talents – including Amy Chu (Poison Ivy: Cycle of Life and Death), Adam Gorham (DEAD DROP), Jody Houser (FAITH), Mike McKone (Teen Titans), Pere Perez (ARCHER & ARMSTRONG), and more – into a 64-page epic too gargantuan for a single issue!

Written by ROBERT VENDITTI with AMY CHU, JODY HOUSER and MORE
Art by PERE PEREZ with CAFU, ADAM GORHAM, MIKE McKONE and MORE
Cover A by PHIL JIMENEZ
Cover B by CARMEN CARNERO
Variant Cover by BRIAN LEVEL
Variant Cover by JEFF DEKAL
$5.99 | 64 pgs. | T+ | On sale MAY 18

A&A: THE ADVENTURES OF ARCHER & ARMSTRONG #3

Cover A by David Lafuente

Cover B by Kano

Cover C by Monica Gallagher

Variant Cover by Rafer Roberts

Variant Cover by Ben Oliver

B&W Sketch Variant by David Lafuente

Archer and Armstrong and Mary-Maria versus Bacchus —a dude who thinks he’s the god of wine!

At last…Bacchus’ diabolical plan stands revealed: get Archer and Armstrong drunk! Too bad one is an immortal with a liver of steel and the other is a bit of a lightweight.That can only mean one thing: Mary-Maria to the rescue! But can she and Armstrong put aside their differences in time to hold Archer’s hair back? Or is he about to ruin the expensive interior of Armstrong’s bottomless satchel?!

Written by RAFER ROBERTS
Art by DAVID LAFUENTE
Cover A by DAVID LAFUENTE
Cover B by KANO
Cover C by MONICA GALLAGHER
Variant Cover by RAFER ROBERTS
Variant Cover by BEN OLIVER
B&W Sketch Variant by DAVID LAFUENTE
$3.99 | 32 pgs. | T+ | On sale MAY 11